Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 4, 1925 — page 15: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE GOLD-DUST RAJAH. demanded. ‘“‘ That’s a question for a girl, eh? Marcia wants a list of your raw pro- ducts!” His tone was proudly bantering. Barker partly twisted about. “ Gutta,” he replied; ‘‘ ironwood, rattan, honey, wax, birds’ nests for Chinese nabobs, bears’ skins and monkeys’ skins, the last to adorn civil- ized ladies: also, boars’ tusks and monkeys’ teeth; bats’ teeth, too, and all sorts of curios like blow pipes, and mandaus with inlaid handles, and poisoned arrows—” ‘Jolly cargoes!” observed Wray fa- cetiously. Barker assented. ‘‘ Especially the ex- ports of serpents’ fat,” he added. ‘* Pythons’ fat, you understand.” ‘* Sounds nice,” declared Wray. “But what goes back up the river?” asked the girl. Barker took off his helmet to answer, al- most as if he were trying to show the ques- tioner that her inquiring of him honored him. “ Rice, Miss Oldham,” he said: “ cargoes of rice up this particular river, though, of course, in other districts the Dyaks grow it themselves.” ‘Thank you.” “ Please let me tell you everything I can,” begged Barker. ‘It’s a pleasure.” ‘Not many girls take an interest in things of that sort, do they, Barker?” de- manded Wray, and his shoulders lifted again with another swelling of his chest with pride. ‘“ You’ve said it,” pronounced Barker, re- placing the helmet. The white men slept again, and the pad- dlers and steersmen of the eight praus, weary and dripping with perspiration, lowered their dull eyes to their work and the moving level of the river, so that the kampong which was to be the next land- ing place stole slowly into view unseen by any of the voyagers save the alert Kwong Wing, standing at the stern of the last boat of the line, a cigarette between his yellow teeth, a neatly braided queue over one shoulder and his smoke trailing out behind him like wisps of faintly blue gauze. The fact that the little fleet had reached its temporary destination came from the shore itself—suddenly, where the river made 805 a long, curving turn. A chorus of shrill shouts, mingled with a jabbering of native exclamations, came to the travelers on the warm, still air. There followed the low pounding made by many bare, or lightly sandaled feet, hastening across soft earth. With the voices and the stamping sounded a clear tinkling. Quickly raising their brightly-topped heads, the Malays of the boat line answered the greeting from the bank with heartiness, began paddling with something like zeal, chattered their relief and surprise and swept the water behind them faster on its course as they swung the prows of their craft in the direction of a strip of cleared river- bank. There was space along this strip for the eight praus to come to a halt without break- ing their alignment; as they reached the shallows close to the landing-place, the eag- er, brown hands of wading Dvaks caught at each boat in turn, as what appeared to be the whole remainder of the inhabitants of that kampong crowded and craned to get a look at the visitors. As the eight boats came to a stop, laving end to end, to the girl who was leaned for- ward the better to see, the scene was strange and _ interesting—that forward pressing crowd of men, women and children, some of the men wearing waist cloths, some of them in the more familiar “shorts” of the tropics; the women modestly dressed in sarongs above which were loose jackets; but only the older children having on more than some shell ornaments, or, perhaps, a few charms. Every head was abob, and a hundred mouths were going in a gay chorus of chat- ter. But the faces which smiled at the Strangers showed no expected gleam of white across them, for the teeth of every Dyak were blackened by betel chewing, and their lips were weirdly red. Even a glance told of striking differences between these forest people and the Malays. They were livelier, less reserved, more in- clined to talk and full of pleasant laughter. Having come so precipitately to welcome their visitors, many of the women still had in their hands the work upon which they had been engaged when the first shouts an- COM NOOK CO